CH 13

The weather in early April was still a little cold, but it would be warm by noon. You would wear two layers and a coat or jacket in the morning and by noon, you would be left with one layer on.

Sports students were even more outrageous. They would directly take everything off while out on the sports field.Nanyang High School was wealthy, so their sports field was very large and the rubber tracks and green fields were top quality.The sports students would usually train on the sports field and the physical education teacher, Shi Jin, was the one in charge of the track and field activities.Fu Donglin was tall and strong and he also had good endurance, so his performance in sprints and long distance running was very good. Shi Jin had high expectations for him, so he called Fu Donglin back even despite his suspension.When Fu Donglin arrived, he appeared to have become a little gloomier.Shi Jin said to him, “Warm up first and we’ll test you later.”Fu Donglin grunted and soon had his times checked. Shi Jin was very dissatisfied, “It has only been a few days but look at yourself. What is with these results? You want to take the test with this kind of result?”Fu Donglin sullenly said, “I’m not in good condition today.”Shi Jin, “Stop with the excuse, you clearly have your mind elsewhere!”Fu Donglin raised his eyes and glanced at Shi Jin. Shi Jin naturally saw the dissatisfaction in his eyes and was angered, “What? You’re not happy to hear me say this? Did I say something wrong? Look at how much you have fallen by. You could have been able to get into a top university but now you might not even be able to get into a vocational school! You’re a sports student. If you’re not good with your studies, you should focus on training!”Fu Donglin suppressed his anger, “It’s just that I’m not in good condition today!”Shi Jin: “Fu Donglin, pay attention to your tone. I am your teacher, not your mother. What are you yelling at me for?”He added, “You’d better spend less time on useless things. There is still one month until the physical examinations. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll be sorry!”Fu Donglin couldn’t take it anymore. He took off the jacket hanging from his shoulder and threw it to the ground and left.Shi Jin shouted after him, “Get back here! You’re not training anymore?! Get back here and continue with your training!”Fu Donglin didn’t even look back.Someone shouted, “Brother Fu…”Shi Jin shouted over him, “Forget it. With such poor mentality, forget about doing well in the exams!”Another physical education teacher who had come to help couldn’t help but speak up, “You’re too harsh on him. He’s just not performing well today.”Shi Jin said, “You don’t understand. He doesn’t have his mind on training at all. All he thinks about is doing bad things.”That physical education teacher closed his mouth.He also knew about the reason for Fu Donglin’s suspension. He was originally supposed to go on stage during the flag raising ceremony on Monday to repent but because his uncle was a major shareholder of the school, he was only suspended from attending class.Fu Donglin was a sports student so the suspension from his classes didn’t have an effect on him. Training wasn’t counted as a class so it was a loophole that could be exploited.

Fu Donglin naturally wasn’t bothered by this insignificant punishment. He was mainly irked by the fact that he was played by Xie Zhongxing.Whenever he thinks of Xie Zhongxing, he couldn’t help but grind his teeth in anger. If he previously only somewhat wanted to teach Xie Zhongxing a lesson, now he really wanted to teach him a lesson.If he didn’t pay that Xie Zhongxing back, his anger will never subside.Who doesn’t have a trick or two up their sleeves?*In the evening, Xie Zhongxing and Zhong Yiming returned to their dormitory room.Xie Zhongxing’s senses were very keen. As soon as he entered, he noticed Zhao Zhao scrambling in panic back onto his bed.Xie Zhongxing glanced at Zhao Zhao briefly before asking, “Have you eaten?”Zhao Zhao almost choked, “N-no, not yet.”Xie Zhongxing took out a piece of bread from his bag and gave it to him, “For you.”Zhao Zhao was a little surprised. He knew very well how poor Xie Zhongxing was. He would eat two pieces of bread for breakfast every morning and would have the school’s free soup and rice as well as the cheapest cabbage and radish side dish for lunch. Every day, he would limit his daily expenses to seven yuan. It was terrifyingly thrifty.This bread was probably his breakfast for tomorrow.Zhao Zhao felt a little restless. He quietly declined, “No need. I can go get food later myself.”Hearing this, Xie Zhongxing didn’t say anything else and just stored the bread back into his school bag.Zhonng Yiming opened his closet, took out a bag of chocolate and gave it to Xie Zhongxing, “I brought this from home but forgot to give it to you.”Xie Zhongxing turned it down, “You don’t have to do this.”Zhong Yiming shoved it into his hands, “These are leftovers from home. If you don’t take it, my mother would throw it out. You can help me finish it.”Hearing this, Xie Zhongxing no longer refused, “Thanks.”Zhong Yiming took out another bag and gave it to Zhao Zhao, “This is for you. Help me finish it off please.”Zhao Zhao received the chocolates.He knitted his brows anxiously but as soon as his eyes landed on Xie Zhongxing, he hurriedly lowered his head and pretended to be busy opening the bag of chocolates.

Zhao Zhao wasn’t in the same class as theirs and was transferred over from another dormitory room. It was said that there were some issues between the roommates, so he was transferred here.As such, Xie Zhongxing and Zhao Zhao had been roommates for less than a year.Xie Zhongxing glanced at Zhao Zhao a few more times and noticed that he would tremble whenever he looked over.Xie Zhongxing asked calmly, “Can I turn on the light?”Although it was late afternoon, but because of direction the room faced, it was already dark inside. If one didn’t turn on the lights, they wouldn’t be able to see and do their homework.Xie Zhongxing would also ask this on a typical day, but Zhao Zhao seemed to be especially nervous today. He stammered, “Y-yes, you can.”The lights in the dormitory were controlled using a main switch. As it wasn’t time yet for the lights to turn on, Xie Zhongxing turned on a small night light instead.He turned the light on and proceeded to pull out a book with English vocabulary and quietly began to memorise the contents.After a while, Xie Zhongxing suddenly asked, “Did Fu Donglin come back?”Zhong Yiming was surprised for a moment, “Wasn’t he suspended from classes?”Xie Zhongxing said, “His closet is unlocked. It was locked before.”When he said those words, his eyes fell onto Zhao Zhao.Zhao Zhao didn’t look up but he knew very well that Xie Zhongxing was looking at him.Xie Zhongxing softly called out to Zhao Zhao, “Did you see Fu Donglin?”Zhao Zhao swallowed nervously and bowed his head, “I-I didn’t see him….”Xie Zhongxing paused for a moment before asking, “Where is it?”Zhao Zhao raised his head in surprise, “What?”Xie Zhonxing, “He probably asked you to hide something in my belongings?”Zhao Zhao’s eyes widened.Zhong Yiming only now understood the situation. He was in disbelief, “That can’t be?”Xie Zhongxing looked straight at Zhao Zhao, “Where is it?”Zhao Zhao didn’t speak. Zhong Yiming hurriedly went to search his bed.Xie Zhongxing stood up, “Zhao Zhao, you are different from him.”

Zhao Zhao’s face instantly flushed red. He remembered that he had always been particularly well-behaved. From elementary school until now, he had always been a good child who would do his homework and follow the rules --- he had always been the child the teacher didn’t have to worry about. With his nature like this, he had reported a student for cheating when he was in junior high school and this resulted in him being bullied for three entire years until graduation. Having learnt his lesson from that, he decided to be invisible in senior high school, turning a blind eye to everything. He just wanted to peacefully get through until his college entrance examination.But something like framing another person, was this something he should be doing?Zhao Zhao was ashamed of himself. His eyes turned red and he felt conflicted inside for a long time before finally whispering, “It’s a watch, an Omega watch that costs fifty thousand yuan. It’s hidden in your autumn uniform pant pocket.”As soon as he was done saying that, before Xie Zhongxing could open the closet to check, the door to their dormitory room opened and Fu Donglin as well as the dormitory manager Teacher Zhou, who had come to inspect, entered the room.Fu Donglin looked at Xie Zhongxing with a malicious light in his eyes and said loudly, “Teacher, I believe someone stole my watch! I would like to request for you to help me search for it.”Zhong Yiming glanced at Xie Zhongxing, silently asking him what they should do.Xie Zhongxing directly spoke up, “No need to search. The watch is in my closet.”Fu Donglin was left stunned by this move of his. A smirk slowly appeared on his face and he deliberately raised his voice, “You stole my watch?”It just happened to be the time where the dormitory building was filled with people. With his voice raised, many boys from the surrounding rooms came over to watch the show.Under their watchful eyes, Xie Zhongxing’s expression didn’t change. He asked with some confusion, “Didn’t you ask me to help you keep it safe? Did you forget?”“Bullshit! That watch costs fifty thousand yuan. How could I give it to you to keep safe? You definitely stole it!” Using the watch as an excuse, Fu Donglin vented all his anger and disgust towards Xie Zhongxing, “You’re the poorest one here. I’ve noticed that you would always look at my watch so you probably wanted to steal it since a long time ago. That’s true. Stealing something is very easy. As long as you sell it for a few thousand dollars, it would be enough for you to live comfortably for a while. I know people like you very well. Don’t even try and get out of this with your useless excuses. I’m reporting you to the police!”As he said that, he took out his phone and dialled 110.“Wait a minute, don’t be so hasty.” Teacher Zhou hurriedly stopped him. If it was something that could be resolved privately, he didn’t want to involve the authorities, it wouldn’t be good for the school’s reputation. His gaze fell onto Xie Zhongxing. He was a teacher for the first-year students, so he wasn’t very familiar with Xie Zhongxing and, as such, didn’t have any special filters. With Fu Donglin speaking so righteously, he couldn’t help but find himself leaning more towards Fu Donglin. He spoke sternly to Xie Zhongxing, “This classmate, stealing things is unacceptable. If the police are involved, you will be punished according to the law. If the stolen amount exceeds thirty thousand, you will be sentenced. You should hurry and take that watch out and apologise to this classmate here. Since you’re all from the same dormitory, we can leave it at that.”Fu Donglin refused, “No! Since he has stolen my watch, he will surely steal other people’s money in the future. If the police don’t deal with this matter, others will suffer from the same fate as me!”Fu Donglin had directly deemed Xie Zhongxing as a thief with those words of his. The boys outside watching the show were mostly third year students as well so they knew about Xie Zhongxing. Seeing this situation, they all started to discuss, “Did he really steal it?”“Fu Donglin is right. Stealing things is easy. With him so poor, that is enough motive as it is.”“That can’t be. His grades are good so the school should have given him a scholarship. He shouldn’t be so lacking in money.”“What do you know? How much scholarship would a school give you? Stealing a fifty thousand yuan watch and selling it for thirty thousand, that’s a lot of money.”“He doesn’t look like a thief. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”“I had three hundred stolen from my dormitory room last time. Could he have been the culprit then too?”…….

Those unbearable speculations reaching his ears, Zhong Yiming was angered. He tried his best to restrain his anger, “Don’t take this too far. You clearly told Xie Zhongxing yourself to take care of your watch! How could you turn around and accuse him now?”Fu Donglin looked at him with a shocked expression, “Zhong Yiming, why are you helping a thief?! He’s the one who stole my watch, yet you want to stand up for him! What kind of relationship do you have with him for you to lie for him?”Fu Donglin continued, “It is a fact that my watch went missing. If Xie Zhongxing really didn’t steal it then he shouldn’t be afraid of the police getting involved.”Teacher Zhou quickly asked everyone to quieten down and ordered Xie Zhongxing to open his closet.Xie Zhongxing calmly opened the door of his closet and said to Teacher Zhou, “His watch is indeed with me but I didn’t steal it. He asked me to take care of it for him.”Then, he took out that watch from his school pant pocket.Zhong Yiming added, “I can testify this!”Seeing his calm appearance that didn’t seem like someone who was caught stealing, Teacher Zhao started to feel uncertain. He finally decided, “I’ll report to the office first.”Fu Donglin who heard this immediately felt anxious. The dean last time believed in Xie Zhongxing’s nonsense without any hesitation, he must not let this matter reach the dean’s office again!He directly dialled 110 and the call soon connected. He said loudly, “Hello, I want to file a police report. Someone stole something from me….”Teacher Zhou wanted to take away his phone, “Classmate, don’t call the police yet----”Fu Donglin avoided his hand.After reporting the address, Fu Donglin’s lips curled up into a smile. He looked at Xie Zhongxing with eyes filled with malice, “Just you wait, this matter isn’t over yet!”Xie Zhongxing indifferently lowered his eyes.This idiot. He already has a history of bullying him, the police might not necessarily believe his words.More and more people gathered outside the dormitory room. The police arrived very quickly. Fifteen minutes later, police sirens sounded outside the dormitory building.Following that were a series of footsteps approaching. The male students who were gathered at the door watching the show moved aside to make way for them.As soon as those footsteps reached the dormitory room, a loud voice sounded, “Don’t be afraid. With me around, no one will bully you!”This voice was so recognisable, Xie Zhongxing knew immediately who it belonged to.He looked up in surprise and his eyes immediately met with Qin Zhongyue’s eyes which were burning with anger.The author has something to say:Baby Yue: Wifey, your man is here to protect you!Xing Xing: So handsome.But I hope that handsomeness lasts longer than three seconds.